Certified Staffing Profesional Practice Exam

Is an employer allowed to average an employee's hours over multiple weeks for overtime liability?

1. True

2. False

3. Only in specific circumstances

4. Only for salaried employees

The correct answer is: False

The statement regarding an employer's ability to average an employee's hours over multiple weeks for overtime liability is indeed false. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the calculation of overtime pay is based on a workweek, which is defined as a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. Employers are required to track hours worked within each workweek separately when determining overtime eligibility. Averaging hours worked over multiple weeks to determine if an employee has exceeded the 40-hour threshold for overtime is not permissible. Each week stands on its own, meaning that if an employee works more than 40 hours in any given week, they are entitled to receive overtime pay for those hours worked beyond the standard 40, regardless of how many total hours they may have worked across previous weeks. Therefore, the employer's practice of averaging hours over multiple weeks would violate the established guidelines for calculating overtime, making the claim that this practice is allowed incorrect.